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Industrial and Organizational
PsychologyMichael B. Gladson, MD
What is I/O Psychology?
The branch of psychology concerned with the application of psychological principles in the workplace
Second only to clinical psychology in the number of practitioners
Found in four sectors of the economy: industry, universities, government, and consulting firms
Differences in I/O and other psychology fields
Differs in the settings where it is practiced
Differs in content
Differs in approach
Does not differ in its reliance on the scientific method for its theories and research
Settings
Practiced in work settings
Makes use of findings of other branches of psychology:
Human motivation
Attitude formation
Psychology of groups (team performance, leadership dynamics)
Psychophysiology (job stress)
Theories of adjustment (job loss)
Intelligence testing applied to develop tests that might assist in hiring decisions
Content
Three primary areas of interest:
Personnel psychology
Organizational psychology
Human factors (or human engineering) psychology
A Systems Approach
Changes in one facet of I/O psychology usually affects the other facets
Example – changes in the design of a task so that it is more complex (human factors activity) may have substantial impact on worker satisfaction (organizational topic) or who might do best at that task (personnel topic)
A Brief History
Personnel Psychology was the first of the three I/O subfields to appear
Intelligence testing used in WW I to identify recruits with greatest likelihood to become successful officers
Adapted by industry following the war
Organizational Psychology History
Money was thought to be the only motivator in the early 20th century
Job satisfaction was of little interest to employers
Intelligence was something to be avoided in workers
Organizational Psychology History
Research team led by Mayo (1930) discovered that employees’ attitudes toward supervisors and company had substantial effects on productivity regardless of pay level
This launched the human relations movement, which gave birth to interest in job satisfaction, work motivation, and leadership
Human Factors Psychology History
Began with WW II when aircraft had become much more complex and there were more accidents than ever before (cockpit instrument array not standardized)
Airplane cockpits thus began to be designed with standardization of location of controls & instruments in the cockpit to decrease human error
Human factors psychology was born out of this need to design the best & safest combination of human & machine
In the next slides we will consider
each of the three facets of I/O
psychology in greater detail
Personnel Psychology
Selecting correct persons for the job
I/O psychologist would go about the selection process for any job in the same way
First step – determining the most important duties of the job in question
Second step – list human attributes (skills, abilities, knowledge, experience, and personality characteristics) that will be necessary for success
Third step – develop a way to measure those attributes in applicants
Final step – deciding who will get the job based on results of those assessments
First Step - Job Analysis
A method for breaking a job into its constituent parts – which parts are the most important?
Then determine the knowledge, skills, abilities, or other personal characteristics necessary for successful completion of the job’s central tasks
When these key attributes have been identified, then an appropriate test can be selected or developed.
Second Step – Test Administration and Interviewing Standardized tests used extensively
In recent years, personality testing has attracted increased interest as a means to enhance the hiring process – a result of the appearance of standardized tests to measure the Big Five personality traits
Integrity tests – measure trustworthiness but may not be as valid
Credit checks – may be considered intrusive by some employers
Test Administration and Interviewing
Personnel psychologist must verify that the tests used to select the best job candidates are successful in doing so
Involves statistical correlation of test scores with performance measures if the latter are available
This process is known as validation
Interviewing
Two types – structured and unstructured
Structured interviews more like standardized tests
same questions asked of all candidates and are based on attributes necessary for success on the job in question
Have clear guidelines for evaluation of answers
Can give information not otherwise tested, such as oral comprehension, listening skills, and motivation
Interviewing
Unstructured interviews
Nonstandard questions with no clear right or wrong answers
No method of assigning a score to an applicant
Many employers rely heavily on this type of interview but research suggests it is highly suggestive and far from optimal
Equal Opportunity Employment and Testing
Mental ability tests have been portrayed as instruments of discrimination as minorities often score lower
Physical ability tests may discriminate against women, older persons, and persons with disabilities
The EEOC in the US wants to ensure that all testing is fair to all applicants, regardless of race, religion, gender, disability, or age.
Equal Opportunity Employment
This simple goal has led to a complex tangle of legal, administrative, and philosophical disputes
Hiring quotas were in effect until 1991; since then many companies have continued to try to diversify their workforce
Much of the debate is about whether tests used in hiring are valid
When tests focus on several important attributes it is likely that ethnic minority applicants do better
New Trends and Challenges
Training and education
Performance assessment of current employees
Hiring airport screeners by DHS an important part of work of DHS I/O psychologist that has implications on national security
Organizational Psychology
Interest is in how organizational factors influence workers’ social and emotional functioning
Also interested in work motivation, job satisfaction, teams, leadership, and organizational culture
Work Motivation
Why do some workers work hard and others appear lazy and uncooperative?
Herzberg’s job enrichment theory – increasing motivation can be accomplished by enriching the job and giving worker more responsibilities and challenges
Skinner’s reinforcement theory – jobs acquire interest only through their association with extrinsic or external rewards
Work Motivation
Each theory has some value, but neither applies all the time
Expectancy theory – proposes people act on a prediction of what rewards they will receive
Self-efficacy theory – individuals gradually develop confidence (or lack of it) about abilities to overcome obstacles and successfully complete difficult tasks. Confidence can be enhanced or diminished by actual work experiences
Work Motivation
Self-regulation theory
Involves making and executing plans, initiating and inhibiting behaviors, taking responsibility, and exhibiting self-discipline
Important in “fitting in” with colleagues
Work Motivation
Goal-setting theory
Proposes best way to increase effort is to set specific, challenging goals for a worker
Same principle as in athletic training
Even if goal not met, performance better than if you had not set specific goals
Job Satisfaction
More research on this than almost any subject in I/O psychology and have led to basic findings about job satisfaction are:
Interesting and challenging work
Pleasant co-workers
Adequate pay and other financial benefits
Opportunities for advancement
Effective and supportive supervisors
Acceptable company policies
Job Satisfaction
The absence of factors previously listed leads to job dissatisfaction
Job dissatisfaction related to increased absenteeism, sick leave, and employee turnover
Job dissatisfaction can cause physical and psychological damage
Employers job is to remove obstacles to success
Work Teams
A result of downsizing in 1980s – unusual in US before that
Teams have effect of increasing accountability and ownership at lower levels of organization
Virtual teams – came about with advent of internet
Can have problems with time zones, inadequate face-to-face contact, and excessive reliance on technology
Leadership
Transformational leadership
Charismatic leadership
Emancipatory leadership
Emotional intelligence in leaders is important – the ability to understand and manage moods in oneself and others
Organizational Culture and Climate
Every organization has a personality, or “culture”
Climate consists of shared perceptions among workers about specific aspects of the workplace environment
I/O psychologists are primarily interested in how employees experience organizational culture and climate
Balancing Work and Other Spheres of Life
Research in this area focuses on the design and evaluation of programs intended to reduce stress at work
Time off from work, extent of non-work related hassles, and level of non-work stress found to be significant correlates of subsequent work-week performance as well as of employee health
Human Factors Psychology
Human factors specialists seek to understand the human-machine relationship in various environments
Design work environments and control panels for equipment in ways to reduce mistakes and decrease work stress
Robotics in the worksite is one newer challenge for human factors specialists; also distance education
Systems Approach to Work Safety
Workplace safety can serve as an example of the interrelation among personnel psychology, organizational psychology, and human factors psychology
Consider the problem of pizza delivery drivers who have excessive accidents when trying to deliver pizzas in under 30 minutes
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